AMRAD at Hamvention 2009

[Philip Miller Tate]

Much as I love toys, and I hate to be a Luddite, I don't see the  
point of this.

As I understand it, (a) I've got to set up my VX-7R (I think it can  
do this stuff), (b) I've got to carry a paper grid reference map with  
me to find my XY location, (c) I've got to remember to update my  
position every 100 feet, so that anyone who happens to be near a  
display can see where I am, provided they know my callsign.  
Alternatively, someone who wants to know where I am can call my  
callsign on an agreed frequency (I've got the AMRAD call frequency  
programmed in to my radios) and I can reply "I'm two spaces downwind  
from the Googleplex Antennas blimp, meet you at the rocks in five  
minutes."

Please explain what I have failed to understand...

Phil M1GWZ

PS. Of course, I'm happy to take part on an experimental basis.




On 9 May 2009, at 14:00, Robert E. Seastrom wrote:

>
> I know it's a little late to be thinking of modding the software (or
> maybe not if you like living dangerously), but wouldn't a BOOTH NUMBER
> be a far superior way of entering one's location rather than looking
> it up on a grid?  Booth number to grid translation is low art.
>
> -r
>
>
> "Bob Bruninga " <bruninga at usna.edu> writes:
>
>>> We will have chairs and a chance to sit
>>> down and help us talk to prospective
>>> new members.
>>
>> Remember, this year at Dayton, there will be an APRStt (Touchtone)  
>> gateway.  Meaning anyone with any old HT with a DTMF keypad can  
>> report his position anywhere at Hamvention (to nearest 100 feet)  
>> using only a single X and Y digit (00 to 99) see the map on
>> www.aprs.org/aprstt.html
>>
>> Of course, to know WHO is where, you have to pre-program your  
>> CALLSIGN into a DTMF memory.  When you want to report where you  
>> are, you send the callsign memory, then manually key in Bxy#.  The  
>> B key means a POSIT, the X and Y digits are from the map grid on  
>> the web page above, and # marks the end of data.
>>
>> So if someone would put up an APRS display at the AMRAD space,  
>> then ALL AMRAD wanderers can report where they are at any time  
>> with only those 4 key strokes on the APRStt channel (which will be  
>> 146.58).
>>
>> The APRStt gateway inside the arena will convert these DTMF  
>> strings to an APRS packet over on the APRS channel so everyone can  
>> see everyone.
>>
>>> I have made up a downloadable map from
>>> Google Maps
>>
>> A similar one was loaded on the UIVIEW yahoo groups site, so that  
>> everyone would be looking at a good map of the buildings and flea  
>> market area that was using UIview.
>>
>> Bob, WB4APR
>> _______________________________________________
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>> Tacos at amrad.org
>> http://www.amrad.org/mailman/listinfo/tacos
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